Southern California -- this just in

Asian gang crackdown yields weapons, luxury watches, cash, drugs

August 18, 2011 | 7:51
am

Authorities arrested 17 people and seized several weapons in a Asian gang crackdown.

The suspects are part of five different Asian street gangs, some of them former rivals, who are "teaming up with the sole purpose of committing lucrative crimes," the Long Beach Police Department said in a statement.

The reputed gang members allegedly were involved in home-invasion robberies, burglaries and thefts in the Long Beach area and Orange County. They were charged with felonies including forgery, fraud, drug possession, possession of stolen property and parole violations, the Long Beach Police Department said. Their names were not released.

The four-month investigation involved state parole agents and officers from the Long Beach, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove and Westminster police departments. Deputies from the Orange County and Los Angeles County Sheriff's departments also were part of the operation.